Burma

October 22, 2017

Burma became independent from the British
Government of India in 1937, and became known as the British Government of
Burma. During that period, the &#34;Mag&#34; Buddhists started their fierce attacks
against the Muslims after receiving weapons and supplies from the Burmese
Buddhists and the British colonists. These attacks costed the lives of 100,000
Muslims and other hundreds of thousands fled the country.&nbsp;Persecution
of the Rohingyas Muslims continued as in 1978 more than 300,000 Muslims were
displaced to the neighboring country of Bangladesh. Again, in 1992, another
300,000 Muslims were displaced to Bangladesh. With those who remained, the
government followed the eradication approach through
birth control and increasing the age of marriage for men and women.&nbsp;In
2012, a group of Buddhist &#34;Mag&#34; killed 10 Muslim preachers when they attacked
their car following claims that the attack was in response to the rape of a
Buddhist woman. However, the fact was that the woman was assassinated and her
body was put near a mosque to throw then accusation on Muslims.&nbsp; Then, after this incident, attacks on Muslims
increased with the support of security forces and police and the use of
firearms, while Muslims were banned from possessing any kind of weapons.&nbsp;Based
on the catastrophic conditions that Burma Muslims go through, and after many
meetings and discussions of the Muslim Council of Elders, Professor Dr. Ahmed
el-Tayyib, chairman of the council, called on a number of Burmese community
leaders from different religions (Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism) to
discuss the common ways of living for all citizens of Burma, to identify the
causes of this dispute, and to develop radical solutions to end it and
consolidate the foundations of citizenship in the Myanmar.&nbsp;Therefore,
the Muslim Council of Elders, chaired by Grand Imam Professor Dr. Ahmed
Al-Tayyib, held a seminar in Cairo titled &#34;Towards a Humane Civilizational
Dialogue for Myanmar (Burma)&#34; between January 1 and 6, 2017.&nbsp;The
government of Burma has responded to this invitation and that was the first
time it has responded to discuss its domestic issues outside of its territory.
It was also the first time that the government has responded to an Islamic
mediator. The seminar was attended by 27 persons representing Buddhism, Islam,
Christianity and Hinduism.&nbsp;The
symposium was held in Cairo over six days; the symposium activities took place over
three days followed by two days of touring in Cairo to see the multicultural
and religious diversity. The Grand Imam also held a closed session with the
members of the Muslim Council of Elders and the delegation of the Republic of
the Union of Myanmar and discussed the status of Muslims in the region of &#34;Rakhine&#34;.Studying all means of supporting cultural
development in Myanmar by providing scholarships for Rakhine Muslims to study
at Al-Azhar University.Opening channels of communication
with religious dialogue committees in Myanmar, to train clerics on the concepts
of religion and moderation, renounce violence and promote cultural and
community awareness.Providing cultural courses for
non-Muslims to study Arabic language and improve the cultural and scientific knowledge
in the province of &#34;Rakhine&#34;, which will contribute to achieving
interfaith coexistence.
Agreement on the Muslim Council of
Elders’ visit to Myanmar and hold another round of dialogues between all
parties to achieve peace.